This Element aims to inform readers about what is known about language teacher agency, and why it matters for language teachers. It reviews how the notion of teacher agency enables researchers to explore and understand language teachers' pedagogical practice and pursuit of professional development as mediated by contextual conditions.
Experiences from Hong Kong
This book provides a multifaceted, multilayered examination of the processes and challenges language teachers face in constructing their professional identities in multilingual contexts such as Hong Kong. It focuses on how professional and personal identities are enacted as individuals cross geographic, educational, and socio-cultural boundaries to become English language teachers in Hong Kong. It explores the construction of language teachers’ professional identities from multiple perspectives in multiple settings, including pre-service and in-service teachers from Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Western countries. Understanding the difficulties and challenges these language teachers face in their identity and professional development is of relevance to teachers and teacher educators, as well as those interested in becoming language teachers in multilingual contexts.